Pompey Pebbles Project Comes To An End

A sculptor who has spent 16 years baking clay pebbles to put on a Hampshire beach for a massive art project said he is having to give up halfway to his one million target because of a lack of funds.

Pete Codling has visited Southsea seafront in Portsmouth almost every weekend since 1994 to place the pebbles he has baked in a kiln at his home. But having created 500,000 of the pebbles, which have inscriptions made by members of the public, the 40-year-old is having to draw the One Million Pebbles project to a close because funding has run out from local authorities and the Arts Council.